Training Log Archive: 'Bent

Snowshoe Raid with Hammer as 2 1/2 MENiscuses.

Great to race with Hammer again- he was super solid in the bush in Loree forest- accurate and really fast. I have no clue how he can run through thick bush and navigate at the same time. I was just keeping up for most of it and we we in the lead for 8 controls or so. Unfortunately just as Batkins caught up with us at 150 I discovered we were missing the SI. We went back to the last control but didn't find it for over 6 minutes, as all the eventual lead teams passed us. I finally found it right where I had discovered it missing. Note to self- safety pin to glove is useless- need wrist strap.

The fast bushwhacking claimed my waterline valve too, so I ran dry in the first hour and my mouth was too dry to eat anything but snow for the rest of the race.

The reason Hammer brings me and my tow rope is for the second half of the race, as he runs out of meniscus quickly on the road and trail runs. We probably should have skipped the long descent and climb from 160 at the very bottom of the mountain and gone for the matrix, as it took a serious knee toll. As it turns out we got a bit too greedy going down to 30-point 178 and back, because the uneven frozen fields for the later controls were un-towable knee-hell too and put us well overtime. We had to skip the entire matrix.
The descent to the finish through the bush was also one big slip-and-slide, and we both took hard falls on our bad knees.
I was pretty bonked by the finish, . Much harder on our bods than last year.

I think we were both shocked to see that after penalties we were still 5th overall in such a strong field, and won Masters handily. Kudos to Hammer's great nav and ability to suck up some serious suffering.

Batkins cleared the course, just a tiny bit overtime.

As always, Bob runs a great race, despite lousy snow conditions. Our buddies were well represented on the podium, with a very tight race between the Bobkittens Lee and MsGally and Treehuggers/Running Free Bash/Dee.

C • Sub-3 8

Easy commute with Bulletdog. -11c finally.

C • congrats 4

Short strength workout today- Foot/kneehab, cable press, pull-ups.

Beautiful sunny day, and the trails are frozen hard. Great ride with BZdog- he just loves a fast pace and behaves perfectly, unlike when we walk.
Loving my winter biking boots and pogies!

We did the Charlevoix trails, then off to Palgrave East.
There was a ruckus in the bush, where a bobcat (machine, not feline) was towing in huge girders for the new bridge across the 40cm creek.
There are a few planks there now that work just fine, but maybe they want to be able to bring in a fire truck or bulldozer over the bridge?

C • New bridge 1

Quick night ride back with the big guy. He still treats the last km as a time trial.

Good solid commute in the AM and a return via the Rollercoaster, where I hammered the hills and threw in some extras.
Mocha / Bulletdog trotted along well, but I had to double back for her occasionally. Still game, but not so bullet-like.

Nice hard frozen ground made for a great ride. Only needed my headlamp for the last part of the ride, as BZDog thundered along at top speed.

Quick jaunt up the steepest and highest hills in the 'hood by headlamp, pretending it's on snowshoes.

Mucky out, so I thought I'd get some Functional Strength work in.
Harnessed the hound, and we collected and hauled some 200kg loads of logs a km or so. Sure my HR was higher than spin class.

Hope it simulates slogging up hill in snowshoes. The dogs just don't get hill repeats.

Not a flake of snow left in the bush:(

C • Like! 2

Foothab, kneehab and some core.